An application to build a villa with a swimming pool in Wied il-Għomor, was approved by the Planning Commission, on the strength of a permit issued in 1969.

After being refused three times, including through a Court of Appeal judgment, permit PA/02876/23 was given the green light on Friday.

The applicant, Neville Agius, plans to turn an abandoned structure off Triq il-Kaffis into a four-bedroom residence with a swimming pool and an underlying basement.

The villa will rise in an area in the protected Wied Għomor, a valley that touches three localities, Swieqi, San Ġwann and St Julian's. The valley was scheduled by the Planning Authority in June 1999 as an area of ecological and scientific importance.

The valley was scheduled by the Planning Authority in June 1999.

However, the commission gave the go-ahead to the newest attempt after the developer traced the original permit granted by the Planning Board in 1969. 

The original 12 residence project had never been completed and was abandoned in shell form.

Proposals in the past for the same site to be built had been repeatedly refused as the commission expressed doubts on whether the abandoned structure was ever a “legally established residence”, as required by planning policies.

Planning Authority records show that the illegal construction was served with an enforcement notice, which was withdrawn in 2017, following “legal advice and instructions,” the case officer’s report states.